The Mission Key
by Laila Lucine
Summary: Damiya is a normal X5 (who didn't escape), but when she goes on one mission another comes back to haunt her. This takes place BEFORE the fire. Chapter 4 now up! Yay!
1. Default Chapter

DISCLAIMER: Lydecker is not mine, nor is Manticore or the idea of the pulse, I think that's it… anything else that I don't own point out to me… I do own Damiya and her many facets, the Vaunns, the MacDougals, Jon and Sandra as well as any other petty people that enter the story.  
  
SUMMARY: Damiya is a normal X5, but when she goes on one mission another comes back to haunt her, will she still be loyal to Manticore after all they've put her through?  
  
AUTHOR'S NOTE: The fate of this story is on your shoulders, good reviews mean that it continues, bad reviews mean I get discouraged and start crying and no reviews means I begin to believe that I REALLY suck instead of just moderately suck.  
  
TITLE: The Mission Key  
  
CHAPTER 1: Assignment  
  
AUTHOR: Laila Lucine  
  
"X5-175 report to the small briefing room, now." A guard barked at the pretty girl standing in line in the mess hall.  
  
"Sir, yes sir." She replied thinking defiantly 'I'm not just a number you idiot, I'm Damiya.' Of course she didn't speak her thoughts out loud, that was not allowed at any point in time, unless her opinion was asked for, which was really rare.  
  
She was about fifteen, or at least that's what she'd figured. She'd given herself a birthday too, March 8th, though no one knew about it but her. She had long black hair, tan skin, deep brown eyes, full lips of a pale pink and the complexion of a goddess. Her body had curves in all the right places and she knew how to use them as well. She had it made, except for the brand on the back of her neck commonly known as a barcode.  
  
She marched quickly through the corridors. You didn't walk in Manticore unless you were a guard, you marched. There were rules and regulations everywhere and she followed them, at least that's how it looked on the outside. Ever since a group of X5s escaped they had been hard on all the other X5s and she had undergone tons of special 'reprogramming' trying through it all to hold on to a sense of who she was.  
  
She'd come out on the other end pretending to be their dream soldier but having thoughts of her own which was what they were trying to prevent in the first place. They'd made her smarter than themselves, that was their first mistake. However; they only taught her what they wanted her to know, she had to use her brains to gather the rest of the information. Well, her brains and her breasts. The human mind was so feeble that it was easy to persuade guards to spout info. All she had to do was lean forward slightly and pout her full lips.  
  
For now she had to just concentrate on getting to the small briefing room. There were five main briefing rooms in the facility. The large one, the small one, the open one, the closed one and the one off of Lydecker's office which the other Xs considered the hell room. She was thankfully not going to the hell room, normally when you went there it meant you were being sent out to kill someone. The small briefing room was reserved for talk about small but somewhat important missions and that was all she wanted at the moment.  
  
She finally reached the door and rapped on it the allotted two times. Finally after a slight pause Lydecker's voice answered steadily. Actually it was more steely than steady, but they were taught to think of the two as the same thing.  
  
"Come in X5-175."  
  
She entered and stood at attention. She raised her hand to salute and he saluted. She followed it up and he looked her up and down.  
  
"At ease soldier." He told her.  
  
"Thank you sir." She replied relaxing slightly, though not too much, she had to stay on her guard.  
  
"It has come to my attention that you are an exceptional soldier with the art of attracting men and using them for your own personal gain."  
  
"Sir?" She asked puzzled, she didn't have the slightest clue where this was headed.  
  
"Soldier, we want you to go on a mission for us. You will meet Trevor MacDougal and plant on him a tracking device that will enable us to keep tabs on him at all times. However you won't be able to go in plant it and go back out. You will have to get close to him." Lydecker paused and seemed almost hesitant to go on. "Intimately close."  
  
"If that's what it takes to bring honor to Manticore sir I'll do it." He seemed to blush more after her wording, though she didn't know why, they weren't in third grade after all.  
  
"Alright soldier. You will be known as Claudia Maria Vaunn, nineteen year old daughter of Paul and Angela Vaunn. They are a wealthy couple that were once friends with the MacDougals but they haven't seen each other in fourteen years. You are to 'hook up' with Trevor, plant the device and then get out of there, not raising suspicion. We contacted the MacDougals on the behalf of the Vaunns and arranged for you to spend a few weeks with them. That is the pretext you will act under. You will be trained in Claudia's past history as well as her parents'. You will leave in three days. Any questions?"  
  
"Sir, how old is Trevor MacDougal?" She knew it was risky to ask, but if she was going to have to use the guy she at least wanted to know how old he was.  
  
"Twenty soldier. You are dismissed, please head to room 349 for your lesson."  
  
And then he turned away from her. It would have been a bad move in a fight, but she couldn't take the advantage it gave her, she had to turn and walk away. It took all her strength not to snap his neck like a twig, but she knew in the long run there would be more convenient opportunities and she wouldn't pass them up. She made her way quickly to room 349, wouldn't want to be late to 'new identity class' as the other Xs called it when they told you who you were for the weeks ahead. 


	2. The Beginning Of It All

TITLE: The Mission Key… A mission to unlock her heart.  
  
CHAPTER 2: The Beginning of it All  
  
AUTHOR: Laila Lucine  
  
Damiya got off the small plane and headed down the steps carrying her purse in one hand and a book of poetry in the other. She scanned the crowd for Trevor's face. The MacDougals had assured the 'Vaunns' that he'd be the one to pick her up rain or shine. Sure enough there he was, his red hair, pale skin and freckles amusing her as they had when she saw his picture.  
  
He was the kind of guy you passed on the street and only remembered later because he sort of resembled a clown that you saw as a child at your first circus. The only thing truly striking about him she saw, zooming in on his face, was his deep green eyes with flecks of black imbedded in them. At the moment however he had spotted her and was heading her way to 'help her' with her things.  
  
"Claudia?" He asked in a strong voice that she hadn't expected to come from him. He was more broad shouldered and taller than she'd been led to believe however, he dwarfed her own five feet and six inches by at least four inches.  
  
"Yes. Trevor I presume?" She smiled mischievously.  
  
"In the flesh." He winked. "Sorry that my parents are sort of forcing us together, they're rather tactless and they're hoping we 'hit it off' as my mother put it."  
  
"In other words they're thinking wedding bells and you're thinking running shoes." She teased, she had always been a people person and he had already warmed up to her.  
  
"Well yeah." He admitted. "Lets get your stuff and head 'home'. You look really great by the way. I was afraid you'd be one of those girls with a 'great personality', but you seem to have both looks and brains."  
  
She laughed a tinkling sound that reminded her of bells ringing far off in the distance. She had taken lots of care with her appearance for this trip. She really wanted to get into the role of Claudia. She imagined that an aristocratic girl who had grown up being pampered would think of herself as a minor princess of sorts. So she had dressed in a pink dress in princess style. It was more like a shift really and it was such a pale pink that it looked like it was white posing as pink. It had long sleeves, perfect for the mid-beginning of fall and it wasn't so dressy that she'd call undue attention while still drawing some attention.  
  
He took her arm and led her to the baggage claim where they found her luggage with no real problems. She only had two cases and a hanger bag. She took the smaller case and he balanced the hanger bag and the larger case and though she offered many times to help he refused out of kindness. She did end up opening and closing doors for him though no matter how much he protested.  
  
They got into a dark green Mercedes and off they went. Half an hour and five radio stations later they arrived in front of a small mansion. Damiya had never seen something as lovely as this house. It had a fountain out front with a cherub pouring water into a small 'creek' that ran down into the fountain base and the house itself was exquisite. Large arches and points, the word turret came to mind and she wondered if maybe it had been done in the style of a castle. She played it cool though and didn't gaped when the gates swung open as Trevor pushed a button on the dashboard. They drove up and parked out front where a man dressed in a tux, who Damiya took to be the butler, came out to open the car door for them both. She got out and Trevor led her up the steps to the front door.  
  
The inside was more beautiful than the outside with a staircase that wound up what she could see was at least four floors above them. He led her down a smaller hall and into a room that looked like a tiny study. There were two older people, a man and woman. These were his parents Richard and Kimberly MacDougal. Kimberly stood up and smiled crossing the room to hug Damiya quickly before letting me go and Richard actually crossed to her and kissed her hand.  
  
"Now what was that for Mr. MacDougal?" She asked in an amused tone, she knew for a fact that he normally just greeted people of both sexes with a handshake and quick smile from the pictures she had seen of him. He winked at her, a twinkle in his own deep green eyes.  
  
"You looked like a princess and isn't that the proper way to greet a princess?" He smiled and she noticed that his teeth were perfectly straight and white.  
  
"Well I suppose," She said playing along. "That it depends on the princess." She winked back.  
  
"That's out little Claudia Maria. You were always the cutest little girl. And no more of this Mr. MacDougal. Call us Aunt Kim and Uncle Rich. You used to, or had you forgotten?" Kimberly teased.  
  
"Could I ever forget?" Damiya bantered.  
  
"Nope, you were our little elephant. You never forgot, you could hold grudges for weeks until they finally were resolved. We still think you should be a lawyer, you never forget the details." Rich butted in.  
  
"Mom, Dad, don't scare Claudia on her first day with us. If you scare her away I can't take her out on the town tonight and I though maybe we could hit Jace's, Maj is playing tonight." Trevor came in smiling, she could tell they were a close family.  
  
"And who pray tell is this Maj fellow?" Kim asked.  
  
"They're a band Aunt Kim, a girl band who play rock music. They're great!" Damiya gushed. She had heard them on a previous mission and had fallen in love with their sound immediately. She had memorized every single note of each one of their songs and stored them away in her mind so that she could play them to herself on the long nights stuck in Manticore's barracks.  
  
"Well alright, but you have to promise that you'll have dinner with us before you go, you're not allowed to drink or do drugs or anything when you go and you have to be home by two am, no excuses." Kim told them sternly.  
  
"Fine by me Aunt Kim." Damiya played her part as the good little girl to the hilt.  
  
"Alright Mom." Trevor agreed too smiling over at Damiya and winking. "You never said we couldn't go out and have wild monkey sex." The look on Kim's face was priceless, but you could tell that Richard and Kim were truly used to comments like that as she threw back.  
  
"Well, you're right, but since you mention it. None of that after twelve, after all it'll take you an hour to go through it all and an hour to recover and by that time you'll be late." She winked at Damiya. "Don't worry. He'll be a PERFECT gentleman. Won't you Trev?" He just smiled a secretive smile.  
  
"We'll see." He replied. 


	3. Bittersweet Memories

TITLE: The Mission Key… a mission to unlock her heart.  
  
CHAPTER 3: Bittersweet Memories  
  
AUTHOR: Laila Lucine  
  
Damiya sat on the edge of a queen size bed covered with an old fashioned quilt. The room that she had been given was supposed to look like an old farmhouse room. The things that ruined that effect were the walk in closet, the large bathroom off of it and the size of the room itself. It was a nice room however and she had unpacked eagerly. Aside from completing the mission she was free for the next two weeks. She hadn't been able to say that in years.  
  
FLASH BACK  
  
A younger Damiya, about five, ran up to a tall man with a scruffy beard and spiky hair. They were in a smaller living room. You could tell that though they weren't rich they weren't poor either.  
  
"Daddy Jon!" She crooned as he scooped her up in his arms.  
  
"My little Katie." He whispered kissing the top of her head and then setting her back down.  
  
As soon as her feet touched the ground she was off running. She made sure to keep her speed at normal human child pace instead of transgenic speed. He came after her reaching out pretending to be the tickle monster and she giggled and dodged him with enthusiastic energy.  
  
"Alright you two time for supper." A woman entered the doorway and smiled in at them.  
  
"Mommy Sandra!" Damiya had called running over to hug the woman's legs fiercely. "Daddy Jon was going to tickle me to death." She said it with a serious face though she knew it was ridiculous, no X would seriously believe that you could be tickled to death.  
  
"Now Jon, don't scare the poor girl. We've only had her two days."  
  
"Oh you're fine Katie. Now come on. I'll race you to the table." The man laughed jovially as he took off, Damiya following closely behind him.  
  
END FLASHBACK  
  
"Sorry Dad, sorry Mom." Damiya whispered standing up quickly and heading to the walk in closet to pull out clothes to wear to dinner and to go clubbing.  
  
She settled on a short black skirt with black leggings under it and an asymmetrical dark green shirt. She had personally picked all of her clothes back at Manticore and she'd wanted to go for the 'good girl trying to make a statement' look for the most part. She touched up her makeup, gloss and light blush and put in two different earrings, one small gold stud and the other a gold hoop.  
  
When that was finished she headed out the door of her room to the hallway that led to the stairs and then down to the ground floor. She was on the third floor and she loved the view she got from the landing, straight down into the middle of the entry hall. She walked down them gracefully, a hard skill in the thick high heeled, black patent leather boots she was wearing that reached up to right below her knee.  
  
She walked toward the living room where she knew everyone would be meeting for drinks before dinner. When she got there the room was empty. She walked to the small wet bar that took up one corner of the room and fixed herself a sprite with three cherries in it. She took a seat on a loveseat in front of the fireplace on the other side of the room and sat sipping her drink until she heard a noise behind her. She turned to see Trevor staring at her with his mouth gaping open.  
  
"You're not a cod fish." She reminded him.  
  
"You just look so, different than you did when I first met you." He stumbled over his words blushing as he did.  
  
"You're cute when you're embarrassed." She teased. "This is how I normally dress. It is alright to wear clubbing isn't it?" Damiya pretended to be anxious, personally she didn't care if people stared or not.  
  
"It's perfect. You'll fit in great." He assured her.  
  
"Alright then." She smiled. "I got myself a soda." She said as though apologizing.  
  
"You just got a soda?" He asked incredulously.  
  
"And three cherries." Damiya said as though it were a crime.  
  
"Hmm. If I were you I would have spiced my drink up a bit."  
  
He went behind the bar and fixed himself a ginger ale but he added a dash of vodka. She pretended to be shocked and went back to staring into the fire and sipping her drink. After a few minutes he sat next to her on the small loveseat.  
  
"So, what are your plans for life?" He asked innocently.  
  
"Well I suppose I'll get married and have a family, but I might want to go to college and study genetically engineering." She said, she wanted to judge his reaction to the genetic engineering. She hadn't been told why she was planting a tracking device on him.  
  
"Interesting choice, but maybe I'll snatch you up and keep you prisoner."  
  
1 FLASHBACK  
  
"Talk!" A man yelled in a young Damiya's face, she looks about six.  
  
"Daddy!" Damiya called.  
  
"Don't give us that! We know you're not a normal little girl." The man said pushing his face down into hers, she was tied to a pole and was bound with steel chains.  
  
"Mommy!" She called.  
  
"Katie!" She heard Sandra's voice call from the top of steps. The room itself was in an old warehouse and their voices echoed off the concrete walls. There was a rickety set of metal stairs leading up to a second level where Katie knew Sandra and Jon were.  
  
"Mommy. I'm scared! Help me!" She cried out.  
  
"I'm coming honey!" She heard Sandra call.  
  
"No Sandy, you can't go to her. She's not really our child." She heard Jon answer and knew he must be holding Sandra back.  
  
"She's my baby!" She heard Sandra scream in a worn out voice.  
  
"She was sent to kill us Sandy. You have to believe me. Manticore found out about my research against them and sent her to get close to us and then kill us. They had us adopt a transgenic instead of a normal child." He was pleading with her now.  
  
"She loves us! How can you forsake her like this?" Sandra screamed again.  
  
"She's using your emotion against you."  
  
"She could have killed us anytime this past year, why wait a whole year?" Sandra asked.  
  
"To make sure we trusted her." Jon answered in a broken voice.  
  
"We slept like normal that first night we brought her home. In our own bed with the door unlocked. You're a deep sleeper, she could have tiptoed in and killed us then." Sandra said in an exasperated tone. "You don't need trust to kill two unsuspecting people."  
  
"Talk girl! What do they do to you back at Manticore? Do they train you to kill innocent people? Do they train you to start wars? Sneak up on people in the middle of the night and off them in seconds?" The man was still in her face and he was spitting now. Without thinking she snapped at his nose breaking it with her teeth.  
  
END FLASHBACK  
  
"You don't know what a prisoner is." Damiya told Trevor after a couple beats.  
  
"Sorry." Trevor said, a concerned look crossing his face. "You alright?"  
  
"Yah, fine. Just a little jumpy." She answered.  
  
"Here have a sip, it'll calm your nerves." He offered her his drink but she shook her head.  
  
"Thanks but no thanks." She took another sip of her own drink and was startled as she heard Kimberly's voice from behind them.  
  
"Well you two ready for dinner?" Damiya turned to see Kimberly and Richard standing in the doorway.  
  
They had both changed their clothes and looked very stylish and high class. They contrasted sharply with Trevor and Damiya. Trevor was just wearing some baggy jeans with wide legs and a dark blue t-shirt that read 'March to the beat of your own drum' in thick black letters. Plus his hair was shaggy and nothing at all like his father's perfectly parted hair or his mothers swept up do. Damiya and Trevor matched perfectly, after all her hair was just hanging down straight and slick black as normal. Everyone sat down at the table, Kimberly at the foot, Richard and the head and Damiya and Trevor across from each other.  
  
"So Claudia, what do you think of our home?" Kimberly asked beaming at her.  
  
"It's lovely Aunt Kim."  
  
"Oh, it's nothing compared to yours!" Kim smiled. "But I like to think that it's charming in its grace."  
  
"Like I said Aunt Kim, it's lovely. I'm really glad to be here."  
  
"So, what are your plans for the night?" Rich spoke up.  
  
"Well Dad, I thought we'd go out for ice cream and then bowling and then sex on the beach." Trevor winked at his father. "We're headed to Jace's to hear Maj play. Remember? You were there when we were talking about it."  
  
"I suppose I was, but you seem to change your mind a lot." Damiya sensed a little tension in the air.  
  
"Dad, please don't bring that up. I know I backed out, but I'm not the nine to five type."  
  
"Richard, leave the boy alone, we have company." Kimberly scolded.  
  
"I'm sorry Claudia. You don't need to be dragged into our petty family arguments. So who do you think is going to win the presidential election this year?" Richard abruptly switched the topic of conversation.  
  
"Definitely George Z. Bush."  
  
"No, it'll be that girl who claims to be Hilary's illegitimate granddaughter. What's her name again?" Kimberly spoke up.  
  
"Not Chelsea's daughter?"  
  
"Yes." Kimberly was adamant.  
  
"Willa Clinton." Damiya spoke up.  
  
"Yes, that's it." Richard said.  
  
"She'll never win." Damiya told them in a firm voice.  
  
"Why not?" Kimberly asked.  
  
"She has ties to one of America's old scandals and that hurts her campaign. I think it'll be George Z. Bush by a landslide."  
  
"I am so right!" Trevor burst out.  
  
Finally they settled down to eat the dinner that was placed in front of them. They went through salad, and then fettuccini alfredo with grilled chicken and then they finished up the meal with coffee and New York Style cheesecake. Damiya pretended to be stuffed silly as she and Trevor got up from the table to head to Jace's.  
  
"It was a great meal Aunt Kim. Thanks for having me Uncle Rich." She walked over to Richard and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and then over to Kim and hugged her quickly. Then she took Trevor's arm and started to lead him to the front door.  
  
"Be home by two." Kim called after them.  
  
"Drive safe!" Richard followed it up.  
  
"We will." Damiya called back and then she and Trevor were out the door and in his car. 


	4. Tears Of Blood

Title: The Mission Key  
  
Chapter 4: Tears Of Blood  
  
Author: Laila Lucine  
  
They pulled up out front of a small club with a large line. He parked and helped her out. They waked toward the front door and she prepared herself to be told to wait in line. He smiled at the bouncer.  
  
"Hey Bob. It alright if we head in?"  
  
"Yeah sure." Bob answered back in a deep baritone voice nodding toward the doors with his big, bald head.  
  
"Thanks buddy." Trevor slipped him a ten and they headed through the doors.  
  
Inside the band was just warming up. He pushed his way to the bar and ordered himself a beer. She ordered a water and took a sip before pushing it away again.  
  
"Note to self." She mumbled. "Next time ask for bottled water or a soda."  
  
Then Trevor was at her side. The band had just started to play and it was her favorite song, Fallen Angel. He led her out onto the floor and they danced to the fast paced slightly angry sounding music. Damiya sang along as she spun and dipped and twirled and pressed her body up against Trevor's.  
  
Her mind was half on the mission and half on having fun. She knew that she would have to plant the device on Trevor. In fact she would have to get, really intimate to do so. The device wasn't an actual device but a 'lotion' that formed a second skin over whatever it was applied to. The skin itself felt just like what it had formed over and also looked like it. It could be tracked by special heat detectors. She was to place it over his 'manhood' as Lydecker had put it.  
  
She wasn't ready to get that intimate yet. As the music pounded she felt herself getting lost in the pleasure of just living. Her body swayed and she felt her pulse race.  
  
"Fallen angel, that's what you are to me. Pick me up and we'll fly. Forget about the sky. Fly through blood. It's thicker than water. Justice for my soul. Fallen angel, that's what you are to me. Pick me up and we'll fly. Just save my soul." The lead singer crooned.  
  
FLASHBACK  
  
"Katie honey, wait up." Sandra called to the running child.  
  
"Mommy! I want to get to church!"  
  
"The building isn't going anywhere sweetie." Jon assured her.  
  
"Daddy, I'll race you."  
  
"You'll fall and scuff your dress." Sandra admonished.  
  
"I doubt that. The child never falls." Jon said, and there was a tinge in his voice.  
  
Katie should have picked up on it, but she didn't. She loved them. It was true. She couldn't stand the thought that soon she would have to kill them, have to take the life from Sandra's eyes and the smile from Jon's lips. They were her real parents, Manticore was nothing. She could tell them, but no, they wouldn't understand. They'd kill her, or try to, and then she'd have to fight them. She didn't want that, and if she failed she couldn't go back to Manticore.  
  
"Come on Daddy! Race me!" She demanded in her cute little voice that was honestly exasperated.  
  
"Alright." And they had both taken off, him holding back his pace so that she could 'keep up'.  
  
She was smiling at his retreating back and forgot to look where she was going. Suddenly she was tumbling forward and then she hit the ground. She sucked in her breath as the pain registered but she didn't cry. There was blood coming from under her white tights, soaking them a crimson color and her hands were raw and bleeding. Her dress was ruined just as Sandra had predicted it would end up and suddenly it was all too much for Damiya she started crying. They weren't however the tears of a normal five or six year old. They were tears of blood.  
  
END FLASHBACK  
  
"Claudia, earth to Claudia." Trevor was smiling and waving his hand in front of her eyes. She had the sudden urge to twist his arm back at him so that when he tried to wave it he'd be waving it at himself. She held her arms tightly to her sides.  
  
"I'm sorry, did I zone out again?" She asked.  
  
"Yah." His voice sounded slightly irritated but that was almost covered up by the genuine concern. She was sorry that she'd ever wanted to hurt him. She was also sorry that she'd have to anyway.  
  
"It must be the stress of the trip and the time change." She made excuses.  
  
"Must be. Here." He said holding out a tissue.  
  
"What's this for?" She asked him puzzled.  
  
"You're crying." He pointed up toward her face.  
  
She put her hand to her cheek and felt the still warm trails running down her face. She hadn't even realized until that point. At least, she told herself, she wasn't crying blood, this time.  
  
"Look, if you want to leave, go home and get some rest, we can go."  
  
"No, no! There's nowhere I'd rather be right now than here." She told him.  
  
It was actually partially true. The only other place that she'd rather be right now was back in her youthful 'innocence' with Jon and Sandra. The band started playing a slow song, one that Damiya had never heard before and she moved into Trevor's arms as they swayed to the beat. She let the words and the rhythm wash over her. Trying to forget while still remembering.  
  
"Cry me a river. A river of tears. So I can dry them for you." Trevor was stroking her back now with his strong hands. His fingers seemed to have a life of their own as they moved to her lower back and massaged her tense muscles. She felt herself relaxing and enjoying the feel of it.  
  
"I'll hold you in my arms. We won't let go again. If tomorrow never came, then tonight would never end. We could stay here together, and not let go again. Cry me a river. A river of tears. So I can dry them for you. Because if I dry your tears. I'll know every part of you." The song was ending. She'd missed most of it just thinking of the feel of him.  
  
They stayed and danced for the rest of Maj's set and then they made their way out to the car. Thankfully all Trevor'd had to drink was that one beer at the start of the night. Finally they pulled up out front of the house and went into the front hall. It was just about two o clock and Kimberly sat on the stairs reading a book.  
  
"I thought you'd be home about now." She smiled and started up the steps. "By the way." She called over her shoulder. "How'd the wild monkey sex go?" Damiya couldn't help it, she laughed. She hadn't had so much fun in one night in forever. The last time she'd been truly happy was long ago.  
  
FLASHBACK  
  
"Katie." Sandra called looking high and low for the little girl.  
  
Katie sat absolutely still in her hiding place. She was behind the dryer. Back at Manticore she had been one of the best hiders, but here she was acting as a little girl.  
  
"Katie, where are you Katie." Then she couldn't help it.  
  
Katie giggled. Not too loudly, but she giggled. She'd never have giggled back at Manticore. Then again back at Manticore when you were playing seek and find, their version of hide and seek, you didn't call to the person you were trying to find. In fact you could get your neck snapped that way.  
  
"Hmm. Is she in here?"  
  
She could hear Sandra's voice entering the laundry room. She peeked around the side of the dryer taking in Sandra. Her long and straight blond hair, her bright green eyes, her long legs, and her newly swelling belly.  
  
"No, she couldn't be in here. Why would she be in the laundry room?" Sandra asked herself in a voice that clearly mocked herself. Katie giggled again at the absurdity of the whole thing.  
  
"Do my ears deceive me is she in the dryer?" Sandra bent and opened the dryer door quickly. "Gotcha!" She shouted as she yanked it open. "Or not." She laughed at herself and Katie giggled too. "Or maybe she's gone invisible."  
  
"No." Katie couldn't help replying.  
  
"There she is!" Sandra said peering over the back.  
  
"You found me!" Katie said throwing herself into Sandra's arms.  
  
Then the front door burst open and Jon led the strange men into the house.  
  
END FLASHBACK  
  
"Claudia? Are you alright? You didn't have anything to drink did you?" It was Trevor again, he was concerned about her. She must have really zoned out this time. Maybe she wasn't up to this mission after all.  
  
"I'm fine, just tired and no. I don't drink." She smiled at him. "I had a great time tonight Trev." She smiled at him. "Thanks for taking me out."  
  
"It was nothing." He assured her smiling back.  
  
Then she leaned over and kissed him squarely on the mouth. She pulled away, smiled again and then headed up the stairs to her room. She looked back over the railing at her floor to see him still standing there looking up.  
  
"Night." He called up just loud enough for her to hear.  
  
"Night Trev." She called back before ducking into her room, the plan was going perfectly, if only she could keep her head in the game. 


End file.
